Final Inquiries Read Online Free Page A

said Brox, "and one can never be certain what would have happened, but yes, that is essentially the case."
    "Well, no point, and no time, to worry about it now," said Hannah. She pointed out the viewport. "The Kendari don't have ships like that. Up until five minutes ago, I'd have said nobody does. Where did it come from?"
    "It's a Vixan ship," said Kelly. "And nobody knew about it--except the Defense Command--until it showed up. Apparently, they don't use it much. They can't afford to. Requires too much energy expenditure. Too expensive to operate, except in emergencies."
    "A ship the Vixa can't afford to fly?" Hannah asked. "Ouch." Both the Younger Races, humans and Kendari alike, had, over the years, come to assume that the myriad Elder Races had the technology to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.
    In a way, even the apparent exceptions proved the rule. The Reqwar Pavlat might be incapable of decrypting genetic kill switches--but only because they had deliberately renounced whole fields of knowledge in deference to their traditions. And it was not that the Metrans were unable to extend their own life spans, so much as that they so firmly believed it was impossible that they did not try--and once they did try, they succeeded.
    And even those were examples of cultures that were unwilling to alter themselves--not unable. The belief in Elder Race omnipotence had more to do with outward-looking technology--physics, power generation, transportation, speed, manufacturing. The idea that any such thing might be difficult or expensive for any Elder Race species was startling, but for the Vixa, it was only more so.
    If there was a superpower among the Elder Races, it would have to be the Vixa. Their ships, their machines, their cities, were the gleaming exemplars of what humans, at least, expected of a race of all-powerful aliens. The idea that any sort of spacecraft would be difficult for them to afford was daunting enough. That someone, presumably the Vixa themselves, had dispatched a Kendari aboard such a ship, and sent it to collect not just a couple of BSI agents, but, specifically and by name, Senior Special Agent Hannah Wolfson and Special Agent James Mendez, went well into the overwhelming and intimidating range.
    The ship out there was getting closer--and larger. Hannah watched as it grew from a point of light to a fat dot to a featureless golden sphere, gleaming in the darkness. It was obvious that she had grossly underestimated its size. It was far, far bigger than any such paltry object as Center Transit Station. Some objects that size were classified as minor planets.
    No one aboard the jeep-tug spoke as the Vixan ship swelled in the viewport, and filled it completely. There, at last, at its center, there was a tiny flicker of movement as an access hatch irised open. "Second time today I've had to fly into that little hole," Kelly grumbled as she swung her seat around, locked it down, and concentrated on her controls.
    The "little hole" swelled larger and larger as the jeep-tug made its slow final approach, then flew straight into it and through a featureless tunnel, with walls the same satiny golden color of the spherical ship's outer hull. The tunnel was about a hundred meters or so long. The jeep-tug exited the tunnel's interior and arrived in a large compartment. Kelly extended the landing gear, engaged the vertical thrusters, and brought the little vehicle into a landing on the featureless golden deck.
    "Checking external environment," Kelly announced, looking at her displays. "Air mix, air pressure, and gravity levels matched to Earth-normal. All the comforts of home."
    "They were matched to Kendal standard when it was just me," Brox said, plainly amused. "It would seem our hosts are more concerned about making you comfortable now."
    When it was just Brox? Hannah frowned. That was just the start of her questions. When had Brox come aboard? And where? And why were the high-and-mighty Vixa chauffeuring